


Dragons Don't Wear Socks

by xanemarths



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo | Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Genre: Other, Post-Game(s), dragons wearing booties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 06:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4819079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanemarths/pseuds/xanemarths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Stay for a ball," he said.</p>
<p>"It will be fun," he said.</p>
<p>"You'll need to wear socks, though," he said.</p>
<p>Xane is less than pleased.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dragons Don't Wear Socks

**Author's Note:**

> This was?? such an emotional roller coaster to write?? You'll understand why but.
> 
> Also I'm publishing two things in one day since when does that happen?? never.

“Oh, _there_ you are - where do you think you’re going, again?”

Xane froze in their tracks, just as an arm wrapped around them, in some attempt to block them from moving another step towards a very handy unguarded side door. “Oh, heeeeey, Princey, there you are!”

Shit. So much for bolting early. If they attempted to lie and tell him they’d just ‘been explorin’ this great big ol’ castle’, he most certainly wouldn’t believe them - not after the last war. “Were you going to leave again…?”

Xane could feel themself shrinking in Marth’s arms, just the slightest bit - hardly noticeable, anyway! Princey was always sort of dumb, socially, he wouldn’t see. The way he said it sounded too soft, too concerned - he would be, he _had_ to be, that _had_ to be his nature, didn’t it? Always worried about others, no matter what. Too gods damned gentle and kind and trusting, after all he’d suffered in life; the chameleon hated it. It made things like this almost unbearably hard for them.

“Hah! Nah, don’t you know you’re already stuck with ol’ Xaney here?” they lied, trying to hide how close they had been to bolting once again. The war was over; Marth didn’t need another dragon living in the castle with him. Besides, what purpose did Xane have there now? Their shapeshifting could maybe make for a useful spy - for what? Why would Marth even want to keep them around?

...That was only part of the reason they were so keen to leave now, though, and they knew it.

“Well, you know you’re free to leave at any time, Xane,” Marth murmured, making the shapeshifter’s heart ache over how resigned and - dare they think, sad? - he sounded about it. Oh, _hell_ no, this couldn’t be happening now - “But, if you’re staying around a little while longer, at least, there is going to be a formal ball happening next week, and - well - I was wondering if perhaps you’d like to stay and attend?”

The instant “formal” was mentioned, Xane knew they should have run for it while they still could. “Formal” and “Xane” did not belong in the same sentence, nor anywhere near each other! “Uhhhh…”

Marth did have to look at them with those round, sad eyes. “Suuuuuure, Princey! Dragons basically invented all that fancy formal stuff you humans are into now; I’m sure I can manage just fine~!” they lied, smiling for added sincerity. Marth didn’t need to know that even as a dragon, Xane had four left hind legs, and that their human form hadn’t exactly improved that.  
Was it worth the way his face lit up when he smiled, all worries of losing such a dear friend so soon apparently gone? Absolutely. “Really? Ah, I thought you might have had some more important things perhaps - and I really wouldn’t want to keep you from any of your duties away from here, and-”

“It’s nothin’.” This lie came easier, and Xane had to wonder if it even was a lie anymore. “I probably would’ve just lazed around a lot anyway after this - at least here I get somethin’ to do.”  
The prince relaxed, still smiling at Xane. “I’m glad for that, then - it will be a pleasure to have you there, as well; a familiar face in a crowd of strangers,” he said, before looking the shapeshifter over. “Now, if you’re to be anywhere near presentable in time for the ball, we’ll have to start now - beginning with your lack of proper footwear.”

Xane shifted uncomfortably; being called a pleasure to have around was foreign, being wanted by someone was foreign - and then, thankfully, a more comfortable subject was presented to latch onto. “Hey! What’s wrong with my shoes?” they demanded, wiggling their toes; the shoes were comfortable, well worn and well traveled, and probably looked it as well, but they were all the shapeshifter had!

Marth frowned, looking back over them. “Well, besides the fact that they aren’t the best dress shoes… I’m afraid you’ll need to wear socks.”

Aw, _hell_ no. “I’m a dragon, Princey. Dragons don’t need socks.”

Marth tilted his head, looking just slightly bemused. “How many people know you’re a dragon, Xane? And how many would you want to know? After all, if that’s the explanation you’re going to give at the ball for reasons why you’re wearing shoes older than both wars with no socks, people will find out.”

Of course. It sounded so simple for him to say it like that; of course Xane didn’t want other folk to know. They’d let it slip to Marth because they trusted him - but they didn’t trust all the people in Archanea, certainly not enough to reveal their biggest secret to an entire party full of them. It was too dangerous - who knew what they’d do to a shapeshifting dragon if anyone ever found them outside the safety of Marth’s castle? Besides, as much as everyone seemed to love Tiki, she was a child of Naga. Who knew how well they’d take to another dragon, even if that dragon was also divine.

Aw, hell with it. “Fiiiiiine, Princey. But only at the ball, and only because you’re insistin’.”

* * *

“Exactly what part of ‘only at the ball’ are we failin’ to understand here?”

“Oh, do stop whining - if you’ve never worn socks before, it’s a good thing to try and get used to them beforehand! Wouldn’t want to show up unprepared,” Marth scolded as he attempted to shove the struggling dragon’s feet into a nice, soft, fresh new pair of socks. Despite the resistance, he had advantages in both size and strength, and it wasn’t long before Xane was wriggling their toes and glaring ruefully at the socks on their feet.

“They feel weird. I don’t like them.”

“Of course they feel weird; you’ve never worn them before!”

Xane scowled, briefly, before pushing themself off the bed and onto their feet - only to halt, eyes widening as they threw out their arms to the side. “All right. What the fuck, Princey.”  
Marth blinked at them, before - to Xane’s utter horror - a hand flew to his mouth, barely suppressing a giggle. “As I said, Xane, it’s a good thing to try and get used to them beforehand,” he said, pausing every so often to repress another quiet giggle. The shapeshifter scowled again, trying to take another step, and almost failing upon finding the ground beneath their feet much slippier than they remembered.

“Oh, a word of caution - we may have just recently cleaned and waxed all floors in preparation for the party.”

Xane let out a small cry in protest; they could understand halls, a ballroom, anywhere open to public being waxed, but private bedrooms? Totally unfair. Still, Marth was looking at them expectantly; clearly just standing around in the socks wouldn’t work. They were going to have to prove that they could walk normally, so they extended a leg, taking far more caution than was usual for them as they moved forward, lightly setting their foot on the ground.

And again.

And again.

And again.

“Don’t you dare laugh about this.”

Marth somehow restrained himself, just barely reining in his amusement as Xane attempted to cross the floor, arms wildly windmilling at their sides in a display they hadn’t performed since the old days, back when they were barely getting used to their human form. One foot in front of the other, slowly, taking far too much time making sure every step was perfect. At some point, they miscalculated, and found themself pitching forward on shaky and unbalanced legs. Their arms waved all the faster in a desperate attempt to avoid falling flat on their face, and it appeared to be successful - in a few moments, Xane had righted themself once again, and they stood tall, proud of their accomplishment.

It was then that their legs started slipping out from under them again, and before Xane could balance themself once again, they had fallen backwards, landing painfully on their ass.  
There was a soft thud as Marth slowly sank to the floor a few feet away from Xane, finally succumbing to quiet, almost wheeze-like laughter occasionally broken by small, high pitched squeaks that hurt sensitive dragon ears. Small tears formed at the corners of his eyes, and his entire body shook from giggling so hard. "Oh, shut up..."

"I'm - sorry," Marth gasped out in between gulps of air and laughter, "it's just - your face, when you fell-"

“Yeah, yeah, glad to be a source of entertainment, as always.”

Slowly, both prince and dragon recovered, pushing themselves back up and off the floor - albeit with quite a bit more struggling from the dragon. “That’s probably enough for today - we’ll try again tomorrow, see if you get any better,” Marth said, finally extending a hand to pull Xane back up to their feet.

“Yeah,” Xane replied, trying not to show the hurt pride from having fallen like that.

They should have run when they had the chance...


End file.
